Safety seal for locks



W. HUGHES.

SAFETY SEAL FOR LOCKS.

APFLICATION FILED MAY 31,1921- 1,403,604, Patented Jan.17, 1922',

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM HUGHES, OF TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SAFETY SEAL FOR LOCKS.

Application filed May 31, 1921. Serial No. 473,627.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HUGHES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Taunton, county of Bristol, State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Safety Seals for Locks, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to .the accompanying drawings.

The object of the invention is to provide a very simple and cheap safety seal for locks. It is especially, intended for application to car doors, but it is also applicable to other doors and to trunks, boxes, cases and the like, in which a staple is employed as a part of the locking means.

The invention will be fully understood from the following. description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features thereof will be pointed out and clearly defined in the claims at the close of this specification.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan view of a device embodying the invention in its fully straightened-out form, the strap being broken intermediate its ends for the sake of saving space in showing the full length of the strap. 7

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the device shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the lefthand portion of the device shown in Figs. 1 and 2, after the strap has been bent along the line of perforations to fold over the spring catches down into the socket formed to receive them before the sealing device is applied to the lock.

Fig. 4 shows the device after the righthand end portion has been bent over to bring the tubular eyelet down into engagement with the spring catches to form the locking and sealing connection.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a modified form of device and showing the socket base member on the upper side near the lefthand end-and the spring catches on the lower side-farther away from the-end; that is, the position of the socket and the spring catches are just reversed in position from that shown in Fig. 2. V

.Fig. 6 is a sectional View showing the left-hand portion of the device of Fig. 5

after the socket base member has been bent around to the under side' of the spring catches.

Fig. 7 shows the device as applied to the lock of a car door. I

Referring now to the drawings, the seal- 7 ing device comprises a thin strap of flexible metal which can be slipped through the staple or other loop member of the fastening device of a door or other article, and which can then be bent into loop form so as to bring the two ends together into lapped relation, the two ends being formed with interengaging portions which can be snapped together, the interengaging portions of the two ends being such that after once being engaged they can not be separated without breaking the seal. It also comprises a socket portion integral with the strip, having a. closed base, said socket being adapted toreceive the spring catches and close the entrance thereto from the under side so as to prevent access-t0 the fingers by a tool to open the seal without 7 breaking some part of the device.

The strap 1 of which the device is composed is preferably made of flexible steel which can be .easily bent and which may be relatively soft in the intermediate portion between the two end portions in which are formed the spring catch and socket portions, butwhich is preferably hardened near the end portions so as, to make it more frangible, and therefore more surely broken whenever any onefatteinpts to tamper with the seal.

In'the forms shown in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive, near the left-hand end of the strap, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, there is punched out a hole and around the margin of the hole there'are stamped out the spring catches 2 which extend upward from the plane of the strap, the said fingers taperingtoward each other like the sides of the frustum of a cone. There is also stamped out a socket portion 3 .some'distance back from the end, that is, nearer the center ofthe strap than the spring catches 2, said socket portion being on; the under side of the plane of the strap, that is, on the opposite side from the spring catches 2. This socket portion has a closed bottom and closed sides, being merely a recess of,

; suitable size and shape to receive the spring transverse line of perforations 44 intermediate between the recess portion 3 and the spring catch portion 2, so as to facilitate the bending and also so as to render the strap more frangible along that line. It should be sufliciently strong, however, so that the strap may be folded over onto it self the first time without breaking, but it should be sufficiently frangible so that if the strap is bent back again to disengage the spring fingers, the strap will break.

The strap may be bent over into the form shown in Figure 3 to engage the spring catches 2 in the recess 3 in advance of its attachment to the look. In fact it may be placed on the market in this form so as to have it ready for use.

Near the right-hand end, that is, near the opposite end from the end which contains the spring catches and socket member, there is connected with the strap a stud 7 The stud 7 is formed with a post portion 13 terminating at one end in a reduced portion 14:, thus forming a shoulder 15 at the junction of the portion of larger diameter with the portion of smaller diameter, and when the said stud is riveted to the strap there will be formed a lip 16 clinched on the under side of the strap 1.

The said stud is formed with a flange 9 at the outer endof the portion of larger diameter.

When applied to the lock of a car door, as shown in Figure 7 the strap is slipped through a slot in some part of the locking mechanism, being shownin Figure 7 as being slipped through a slot in the tongue 5 and the plate member 6, and then the strap is bent around so as to bring the flanged stud member 7 down into enga-gementwith the catch figers 2 and pressed in until the flange 9 snaps past the inner ends of the said catches 2 and snaps into engagement withv them,as shown in Figure 4:. The closed bottom 8 of the socket member 3 prevents access to the catch fingers with a tool, and thus prevents the possibility of releasing the catch fingers from the flange 9 or otherwise opening the seal. It can only be separated by breaking the strap itself which will serve as 211 telltale that the seal hasbeen tampered wit The construction shown in Figures 5 and 6 differs slightly from that shown in Figures 1 to 3 inclusive. In this case the lefthand end portion containing the socket member 10 is bent down midway between the socket member and the spring cat-ch fingers so as to bring the socket member down on the under side of the spring catch fingers, andthe tip end portion 18 of the strap will lap onto the under side of the main body of the strap, whereas in the form of device shown in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive, the tip end portion 18 laps over onto the upper face of the strap 1. The stud 7 is attached to the body of the strap at the other end in the same manner as already described and with reference to the first form of construction.

What I claim is 1. A safety seal comprising a strap of flexible metal having near one end a plurality of spring catches struck up from the strap, a socket recess stamped in the strap and having a closed bottom and side walls, said socket and spring catches being inte gral with the strap and adjacent each other near the same end of the strap but projecting from opposite faces of the plane of the strap and so arranged that the strap may be bent over upon itself midway between said socket and said spring catches and bring said catches into the interior of the said socket and pointing toward the base thereof,

between the spring catches and the flange thereof may be snapped into engagement with the catches after the catch member has been entered in the socket. V a

2. A safety seal comprising a strap of flexible metal having near one end a plurality of spring catches struck up from the strap, a socket] recess stamped in the strap and having a closed bottom and side walls, said socket and spring catches being formed in adjacent portions of the strap, the strap being bent midway between the said catches and socket and folded upon itself in such manner that the catches are entered in the said socket with the ends of the catches pointing toward the base of the socket, and a post projecting from one face ofthe strap near its other end, said post being, formed with a flange head so constructed that when, the strap is bent over intermediate the said post and the said inter-engaged catches and recess, the said post may be inserted into the opening between the said spring catches and its flange engaged with'said catches, and the said interengaged flange and ends of the catches be covered by the bottom and side of said recess. j

3. A safety seal comprising a strap of flexible metal having near one end a plu-. rality of spring catches struck up from the strap, a socket recess stamped in the strap and having a closed bottom and side walls, saidsocket and spring catches being formed in adjacent portions of the strap, the strap being bent midway between the said catches,

a socket folded upon itself in such manner that the catches are entered in the said socket with the ends of the catches pointing toward the base of the socket, anda post projecting from one face of the strap near its other end, said post being formed with a flange head so constructed, that, when the strap is bent over intermediate the said post and the said interengaged catches in the recess, the said post may be inserted into the opening between the said spring fingers and its flange engaged with said catches, the

flange of the post being, when the parts are interlocked for sealing, entirely wlthin the space between the base of the socket and the 10 folded portion of the strap.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

WILLIAM HUGHES. 

